I lost my heart in... Calcutta

I was first attracted to Calcutta by the crumbling grandeur. I expected the place to be difficult, with terrible bureaucracy and endless frustration, but we settled in quickly. We found somewhere to live within 10 days, were accepted right away into the neighbourhood and stayed for five months.

Calcutta is a huge city, but not particularly threatening. Things that would cripple a place like New York are dealt with as part of ordinary life: everyone keeps going even when the city floods. People seem to be looking out for each other, which you don't get in western cities.

There are squares that remind me of Italian piazzas, fascinating temples and sweet shops like Viennese cafés where people meet and talk. The most British areas are the least appealing.

Some tourists are disappointed if they don't go to visit the slums, but is easy to get a distorted picture. If you go to Calcutta with an open mind, it is a remarkable place not a disaster zone.

 Abdul's Taxi to Kalighat, A Celebration of Calcutta, by Joe Roberts is published by Profile Books at £15.99